Skill of Observation and asking questions

Whenever I come to my hometown, I seek opportunities to interact with local children. Yesterday, Rameshwari ben from Sai's Angel Trust messaged me to invite me to the culmination event of the 'STEM' program they had conducted in a nearby village's primary school.

We reached a little bit early, and the school was closed. The children were playing in the schoolyard, so we started a conversation with them about science. We asked them questions like, "Who is a scientist?" and "What skills do you need to be a good scientist?" After our discussion, we concluded that observation is the most important skill for a scientist.

Now, what is the difference between 'seeing' and 'observation'? Let's find it out. We asked the children if they knew what different types of trees were in the school's campus. They responded with, "Neem tree, banyan tree..." We then asked them how many types of ants were in the campus, and they said, "Only black and red... what else?" We challenged them to find out, as we believed there were at least 10 types of ants in their campus.

The children accepted the challenge, and a few boys started exploring different trees to find ants, like the hunchback ant and the crazy black ant. We did a short ant walk around the campus, and after some time, three girls also joined us, eager to show off their observation skills. In just 10 minutes, we identified 4-5 species of ants.

The program started with a prayer and a deep pragatya, followed by the children explaining the models they had created during the STEM program. After the demo, we had a discussion about another important skill needed for scientific thinking: asking questions. We used the example of a microphone and asked the children what different types of questions they could ask. We emphasized that to find answers, they needed to conduct experiments and think critically, not just seek information.

There was a spark in the children's eyes, and it felt like they were engaged and understood the concepts. I shared a few ways in which they could practice these two skills:

1. Observe birds, trees, and insects around them and document their observations.

2. Ask questions when reading the news, WhatsApp messages, advertisements, going shopping, or encountering new information.

It was a wonderful and inspiring day for me, and hopefully for the children as well. I would like to express my gratitude to Rameshwari ben, Nikita ben, and Sai's Angel for providing this opportunity.